Out of Time
by Kitsuma
Summary: When a group of men plotting to take over Japan use a summoning circle to summon someone from the future, the didn't get what they expected. Now, it is up to Kenshin and his friends to find the person from the future and help them, but how can they do that when the summoned person is a young American girl that can't speak or understand Japanese?
1. Prologue

**Out of Time**

**A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction**

_**By**_

**Kitsuma**

"Jikan no mirai kara itsu o umidasu," chanted a person. He was standing in the middle of what seemed to be a summoning circle. Five other people surrounded him at each of the main points, and as they muttered three words in time with the middle man's chant, the circle began to glow.

"Jikan no mirai kara itsu o umidasu."

"Kako. Genjo. Mirai."

The circle began to glow brighter and brighter until nothing but white could be seen. When the glow receded, a young woman lied on the ground. She wore unfamiliar clothing and was most obviously not Japanese.

"Boss, I don't think she is Japanese," one of the men said to the middle guy.

The middle man continued to stare at where the girl lay. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her odd clothes that the man never saw foreign girls wear, lightly billowed in the night breeze.

"But maybe she knows Japanese," the middle man finally replied. He picked the girl up by her shirt and harshly slapped her to wake her up. The girl mumbled something, but she did not wake.

"Try again, boss," another man said.

"Don't order me around!" the middle man yelled. He glared at the man who had previously spoken, and he began to continuously slap the young girl. Finally, she showed signs of waking, and the man let her drop to the ground.

The girl grunted and rubbed her eyes. The men began to become clearer, and she shrieked. She shouted something in her language and crawled backwards in her panic. Her back bumped up against a tree, and she used its trunk to pull herself in a standing position. She said something else in her language, but none of the men could understand her.

"What language is that?"

"I think it's Portuguese."

"No, that is obviously Spanish."

"Maybe it's Scottish?"

"No way! It has to be Dutch!"

"You imbeciles!" the boss yelled to his underlings, "That girl is speaking English. Do any of you know how to speak it?" When his underlings shook their heads no, the boss growled, "Useless all of you! Maybe she can speak Japanese."

The man walked up to the shaking girl and as slowly as he could, he spoke to her, "Can you speak Japanese?"

"J-Japanese?" The girl stuttered. She obviously had a hard time pronouncing the word, and just because she repeated the last word did not mean she knew what it meant. "N-no?" She seemed to question herself. Her brown eyes furrowed, as if making sure she pronounced and said the right word.

"Damn," the boss cursed punching the nearest underling. She was most likely from the future, but they had messed up. Somehow, though he didn't know what went wrong. He glared at the girl who in turn tried to shrink away from his gaze. Perhaps there would still be use for her. He drew his sword that was at his side and pointed it at her.

The girl began to shake even more, and she bolted to the left. "After her!" the boss yelled. The men began to chase after her. It was obvious that the girl did not do much exercise and was easily being caught up to, but she kept her wits about her and used the terrain to her advantage.

It was not long when the men began to curse at not being able to find the woman. "Damn it to hell!" The boss yelled. "She is our key! We cannot let her escape. I want her alive, but use any means necessary to bring her back. Break her legs if you have to!"

"Yes sir!" the men replied before fanning out and continuing their search.

"Breakfast is ready! That it is!" a young man called out. Kenshin appeared out of the kitchen with the breakfast already set on the table behind him. "Please come get it before it get's cold."

At the mention of breakfast another young man and a boy holding a shinai came running towards Kenshin.

"Ah yeah! It's about time!"

"Hey kid! You have to share!"

"Oro?" Kenshin said. The two people had already stampeded past him and began to voraciously devour the food. A girl walked around the corner wiping sweat from her brow. "Good morning Miss Kaoru. You should hurry up before the food is gone, that you should."

"Thank you Kenshin," the woman replied with a smile before she turned it into a vicious glare at the boys. She took her bokken and hit both of them over the head. "Have some manners!"

"What did you do that for ugly!" the boy yelled back. He held his head and nursed the bump that was beginning to grow on there.

"What did you call me Yahiko?" Kaoru said venomously. She tapped her bokken on her other hand threateningly.

"Calm down Missie," the other man said. He was currently chewing on a fish bone, "You know the kid's just teasing you."

"You shut up freeloader!" Kaoru hissed. The man held up his hands in a defensive manner. "If Sanosuke is done eating, he can help Kenshin with the chores!" The man gave a nervous smile.

"I think I remembered something. Oh yeah! Megumi needs to check up on my hand!" he exclaimed. Before he could get up and run away, Kaoru hit him in the gut with her bokken, forcing him sit back down again.

"Oro?" Kenshin muttered, as he looked at the destruction. He sharply looked up when he felt a certain ki. He swiftly turned around to face the new adversary, but it was just a police officer walking up to them.

"Dammit Saito! Can't you see we are trying to have breakfast!" Sanosuke yelled. The police office only took off his hat and grinned before opening his wolf like eyes.

"A good morning to the Kamiya Dojo," he greeted coolly. His eyes betrayed the warmth in his voice. Kenshin was holding Sanosuke down, as the latter had red in his eyes.

"Good morning Mr. Saito," Kenshin greeted, though it did not hold as much warmth as it would have would he greet a friend. "What brings you to visit us?"

"The police department had gotten wind of some magic practices happening in the Chichibu forest. Some foot men found a magic circle, and a lot blood," Saito began to explain.

"What the hell does this have to do with us?" Sanosuke growled crossing his arms and glaring at the wall. Kenshin no longer felt the need to hold his friend back, so he released his hand from the fighter's shoulder.

"I take it that you want us to investigate this matter?" Kenshin asked narrowing his eyes at the police officer. His friends gasped and they all looked at Saito to see if this was true.

"Not quite Battousai," Saito answered, lighting his cigarette and taking a breath of it before continuing. "I want you to find the one they summoned." He took another breath and released the smoke from his mouth while he waited for the group to get over their shock.

"Summoned?" Kaoru asked with disbelief. "You mean the magic worked and they summoned something from that magic?"

"Did they summon a dragon? Do you want Kenshin to slay a dragon?" Yahiko asked with excitement.

Kenshin and Sanosuke remained silent. They kept their eyes trained on the man, and waited for him to continue speaking. After releasing another breath of smoke he continued, "Not a something, Kamiya Kaoru, a some_one_. We managed to capture one of the summoners. They attempted to summon a person from the future."

"They summoned someone from the future?" Sanosuke gasped. "Why would they want to do that?" he asked scratching his head.

"To take over Japan. By summoning someone from the future who would most likely know the history, they can avoid obstacles and theoretically take over," Kenshin answered his eyes dangerously narrow and full with anger.

"The Battousai is correct," Saito confirmed, "But the idiots messed up. They weren't specific with the details. They summoned a foreigner."

"The guy would still know a little of Japan's history right?" Yahiko asked looking at Kenshin.

"I'm not sure, that I'm not," Kenshin replied slightly smiling at the boy. "I do not know what the future is like, that I don't."

Saito took this moment to interrupt, "The _girl_ speaks English and according to the prisoner she doesn't know Japanese except maybe a few words. She ran off when their boss pointed his sword at her. They are currently looking for her. Apparently, the prisoner had slashed her leg to slow her down, but the girl managed to lose them."

"She's injured?" Kaoru asked worriedly, "Then we need to get Megumi to treat it." She stood up to presumable fetch the doctor.

"If she is still alive, it has been a few hours since these men last saw her. That wound sounds deep. It could be infected," Saito answered. "Anyway, I want you lot to find the girl, while the police focus on finding the others involved in this summoning. Remember she doesn't speak Japanese." With that the officer flicked away his cigarette and put out the light and walked off.

"That bastard!" Sanosuke growled as Saito left, "Who does he think he is? Besides what does it matter that she doesn't speak Japanese?"

"You idiot!" Kaoru yelled, "Of course it matters."

"Well if you're so smart you explain it Missie," Sanosuke retorted.

"Since she doesn't know Japanese she will be suspicious of everybody. That she will. It will hard to get her to trust us, and to tell her we mean no harm," Kenshin answered for Kaoru, "Not to mention that she is wounded. She will be on her guard. That she will."

Sanosuke and Yahiko made a face that showed they understood. Kenshin smiled at his friends and looked away. Being from the future and a foreigner she would stick out. It should be easy to find her, unless she was nursing her leg wound.

"Yahiko, go get Miss Megumi. Tell her to come to the dojo. We will need her medical skills, that we will," Kenshin said turning to the boy with a smile. Yahiko nodded and with an 'I'm on it,' and ran off to fetch Megumi.

"What about us Kenshin?" Sanosuke said punching his fist into his hand. He was smirking and looked ready to go.

"We will look for the girl, that we will," Kenshin replied nodding to his friend. "Miss Kaoru, you are our trump card, that you are."

"Me?" Kaoru asked with uncertainty, pointing to herself in confusion.

"Yes. Since you are a woman, she should trust you more than us, that she should," Kenshin explained.

"Oh I get it!" Kaoru said with a smile.

"Well, let's get going before those goons find her before we do!" Sanosuke yelled getting impatient. The other two nodded and headed out to find the foreigner.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Rurouni Kenshin**_

**Out of Time****  
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**Chapter 2**

Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Kaoru began to search the city for the girl. They started their search for her in the Chichibu forest and followed the blood trail. It had stopped near the city where a big pool of it lay. Kenshin, with his expertise with the Bakumatsu, knew that this was where she had wrapped her wounds. It showed that she knew some first aid and would not die easily.

Based on the description that the prisoner had given them after they asked him what she looked like, they were looking for a girl with brown hair and eyes. She wore some kind of pants and a weird button less shirt. The pants were apparently a dark blue and the shirt had a picture of a white wolf. With that kind of dress, Kenshin and the others thought it would be easy to find her. They were being proven wrong.

"How can someone so obvious be so hard to find!" Sanosuke complained. "It's past lunch time. I would have thought we would have found her by now."

Kenshin ignored Sanosuke's comment, while Kaoru began to yell at him. The fighter was right. Lunch time. Lunch time. Lunch time! "Of course, it's lunch time."

"Uh yeah. You feeling okay Kenshin? Maybe we should take a break and eat something," Sanosuke commented. Kaoru nodded in agreement.

"It's not that. The girl, she doesn't know Japanese, and not have any Japanese money," Kenshin began to explain. The others gave him confused looks. "She knows a little first aid. Survival skills. She will be by a river!"

His friends gave him looks of understandings and with that new found information they ran towards the river that was close by. When they arrived they saw a strange sight. A girl with odd clothing and the left pant leg was ripped half way and wrapped around her leg.

She was certainly not fishing, and she looked terrified. They looked where she was gazing and four other men were advancing on her. She said something in her language and began to flee. She was heading right for Kenshin and his friends!

"Get her!"

"Don't let her escape!"

"She won't get far with that leg!"

"Aargh!"

The girl had run past the group of friends and the men were advancing on them. "I'll take care of these people, that I will," Kenshin said blocking their way, "Kaoru and Sanosuke, you need to find the girl, that you do."

The two nodded and ran in the direction the girl did. With their receding forms, Kenshin turned to glare at the thugs. "You will not hurt the girl, that you won't."

"Who's gonna stop us? You?" one of them spat. He unsheathed his sword and lunged at Kenshin. He was too slow, and Kenshin easily dodged the blade.

"Why you!" another one growled. Soon enough the three others began to attack Kenshin.

"Megumi! Megumi!" Yahiko yelled. He had run all the way to the clinic. He was at a loss for breath but he kept shouting for the doctor.

"I'm coming! Sheesh," a woman called walking around the corner of the clinic. "Yahiko?" Megumi questioned, looking at the boy covered in sweat. "What are you doing here? Is Sir Ken alright?"

"Kenshin is fine! But you need to come to the dojo right away!" Yahiko panted but stood straight.

"Tell me the whole story," Megumi replied coolly grabbing her medicine kit. "What's going on that you need me so urgently." She desperately prayed that everyone at the dojo was alright. She hoped that it hadn't been attacked.

"Where did she go?" Sanosuke asked irritably. "We saw her a few minutes ago. She must be some sort of ninja to disappear like that.

"No. She's just smart. She isn't panicking," Kaoru answered looking in different directions. Looking for something that would give her a clue as to where the girl went. "She is using her terrain to the advantage."

"Hey! Come out! We won't hurt you!" Sanosuke yelled. They had managed to get to a dead part of town, so there was no one to question what they were doing. Kaoru punched his arm and he rubbed it. "What did you do that for?"

"She doesn't understand Japanese remember!" Kaoru hissed. She strained her ears, hoping to hear something. "Wait. What's that sound?" Kaoru asked. She tried to find the source of the sound.

"I don't hear anything," Sanosuke replied sticking a finger into his ear.

"Ssh!"

"Hey! Don't-"

Kaoru put a hand over his mouth and headed to what looked to be a poorly made wood pile. A rasping sound was coming from the pile of wood, and as they got closer it seemed to quiet down.

"This is none of your business!" a thug yelled at Kenshin. All four of them were panting. Kenshin hadn't even drawn his sword out, but all the men were already getting tired.

"You make it my business when you attack those that are weaker than you," Kenshin replied coldly. The thug gritted his teeth and charged at the smaller man.

It happened in a flash. Kenshin drew his sword, and the man fell to the ground unconscious. The other thugs ran away in fright. Kenshin was about to pursue when the other man still showed consciousness but barely.

"I will be the scapegoat," he replied, and when he finally lost consciousness, the other three thugs were gone.

Kenshin sighed but pulled out some rope and tied up the new prisoner. He flagged down a nearby officer. "This person needs to go to jail. That he does."

"I've got it from here. Thank you, young man. He exchanged a nod with Kenshin and the latter sighed.

"I've wasted too much time here, that I have."

"Missie, do you think she is hiding in there?" Sanosuke whispered to Kaoru. She replied by holding up her hand for silence. She peered in the gap of wood and saw the girl trying to catch her breath. She didn't sound or look to good at all.

Kaoru turned and whispered to Sanosuke, "She doesn't look to good, but I don't think I can pull her out without her resisting and causing the wood to fall."

"Well, that's a problem," Sanosuke replied. A coughing sound came from the wood pile followed by some gagging. "That's a big problem."

Kaoru took in a deep breath and in the kindest tone began to speak, "Hey, come out. We won't hurt you." A raspy gasp came from the wood pile and it lightly shook as the girl began to panic.

"Ssh. Ssh," Kaoru tried to calm the panicking girl. The wood was dangerously close to falling on top of her. "Don't move too much. The wood will fall," she said in a gentle voice. The girl replied with something in her language.

In their surprise the girl came out of the wood like a darting squirrel, and she attempted run away, but the adrenaline must have begun to wear off, because she was limping terribly. Sanosuke managed to grab her from behind and hold her in a position, so she couldn't attack him or hurt herself.

"Calm down!" Sanosuke grunted. The girl yelled something in her language and caused the two to fall down. The fighter's grip didn't lessen, and her struggles began to get weaker. She was gasping for breath and was coughing and hacking. Her leg wound had reopened and blood droplets littered the ground.

Kaoru stuck her hand out at the girl, and she flinched away. Her eyes shut tight. She was whimpering and tears came from her eyes. When Kaoru had put her hand on the girl's forehead, she slightly opened her eyes in confusion.

"She's got a fever," Kaoru said to Sanosuke.

"Tell me something I don't know," he replied. "I felt the heat from her body, and her arms are clammy. She isn't doing to good." He looked down at the girl that was barely conscious. Sanosuke grunted as he lifted her up bridal style. She had used up all her energy and couldn't fight back anymore.

"I found you!" Kenshin said as he rounded the corner with a relieved look on his face. "The girl how is she?" he asked turning towards Kaoru.

"Not good. We need to get back to the dojo fast," she replied. "Yahiko and the fox woman should already be there and waiting for us.

"Then we should hurry, that we should," Kenshin replied. The group began to rush back to the dojo, attempting to keep the girl as steady as possible.

"Where are they?" Yahiko growled in frustration. Megumi and he had arrived ten minutes ago, and the boy had been pacing.

"Calm down," Megumi replied, "Knowing Sir Ken, they should be here soon."

The woman was right. With Sanosuke in the lead, the trio had arrived back at the dojo. Megumi gasped when she saw the girl.

"Put her here," she ordered. After hearing the story from Yahiko she had already prepared some of the materials she would need. "Now let me do my work."

She began to do an examination of the sweating girl who had lost consciousness sometime on the way. The others looked on in worry at the sight.

"This is not good at all."


	3. Chapter 2

_**Rurouni Kenshin**_

**Out of Time**

**Chapter 2**

"Spit it out already!" Sanosuke yelled at Megumi. He seemed genuinely worried about the girl. "Tell us what's wrong with her! Is she going to be all right?"

Megumi rinsed out the cloth and put it back onto the girl's forehead. Kenshin took this time to speak up, "Please tell us Miss Megumi. Is it her leg? Is it infected?" He looked at the doctor carefully analyzing her facial expressions. He sat cross legged with his back against the wall.

"Her leg is only slightly infected. She did very well with what she had. If it was just her leg, she would make a full recovery with no problems," Megumi answered, wiping some sweat away from her patient.

"Then what's the problem?" Yahiko asked looking up from staring at the girl to staring at the doctor.

"I can only speculate from here and from what I've heard from other doctors," Megumi sighed finally looking at her group of friends. "Other doctors have told me that many foreigners can collapse by coming into Japan. This is because the climate is different then what they are used to. This normally doesn't keep them down for long. It is usually mild, but this girl was thrust immediately into a new terrain. Her body didn't have time to prepare for the change. It has gone into some sort of shock. I can tell this because her fever is too high to be from just a mild infection."

"I didn't understand that at all," Sanosuke growled, hitting the wooden pillar of the dojo.

"In other words Sano," Kaoru said speaking up for the first time, "The girl isn't used to this temperature. Megumi, do you know what she is used to?"

The doctor shook her head no, "No I don't. All I know is that it isn't good. On top of that there is the possibility of cholera." At the mention of the disease, the doctor grew grim.

"What's cholera?" Yahiko asked looking at the doctor.

"A terrible disease, that it is," Kenshin told the boy. "There was an outbreak of it not long ago. Many people died from it, that they did." At the mention of the outbreak a heavy atmosphere filled the dojo. No one wanted to speak and the only sound able to be heard was the labored breathing of the foreigner.

"Is it treatable?" Yahiko finally asked, breaking the gloom that had descended upon them.

"Fortunately yes," Megumi said with a smile. It looked like she was about to say more, but Sanosuke beat her to it.

"She's also from the future right? Then that must mean that they have all sorts of stuff to kill cholera! She can probably show us all the ways to defeat all sorts of diseases!" He said excitedly.

"You moron," Megumi hissed throwing a rock at Sanosuke who took it to the face. "Just because she is from the future doesn't mean anything!"

Sanosuke was about to retort, but Kenshin spoke up, "Can you explain that Miss Megumi?"

"Why certainly Sir Ken," Megumi replied with a smile, causing Sanosuke and Kaoru to growl at her. "There is a chance that in the future cholera has been eradicated and they no longer need to worry about it. There is also a bigger chance that this girl is not a doctor. Just because she is from the future doesn't mean she knows everything about that time."

"What do you mean she doesn't know anything about that time?" Sanosuke asked irritably and nursing the new bruise on his face.

Megumi sighed, "Sanosuke, you know a lot about fighting. You could probably talk a whole day about different fighting styles." Sanosuke nodded proudly. "But what can you tell me about being a doctor?"

At the question, Sanosuke faltered. "Uh. Well. You take this do hickey," he said pointing at the scalpel. "You use it to cut the patient open to um, take stuff out. Then you take the needle and thread and sow up the wounds."

"You're not wrong," Megumi replied, "But you're not as detailed as I could be. I know medicine and you know fighting. This girl may know how to cook, but not necessarily know how to make medicine or fight."

"I see," Kaoru said holding her chin, "That makes sense. She is a human being. She can't possibly be an expert on everything. I guess we'll just have to find out when she wakes up."

"Can't speak Japanese remember!" Sanosuke said snickering at Kaoru. In return the assistant master knocked him over the head with her bokken.

The others at the dojo broke out laughing, and Kaoru after giving another hit to the fighter also joined in. The moaning of the patient caused them to quite down their laughter.

"It's good to see you having fun," Saito said walking up to the porch. "We got the man you captured earlier Battousai, and we are currently interrogating him." Saito lighted a cigarette and puffed at it a few times before continuing, "Is that the foreigner you are treating?"

"It is," Kenshin replied curtly, "She is very sick that she is. But I have confidence in Miss Megumi that I do." Saito nodded.

"I'll leave it at that then," he said before turning and walking off.

"Wait!" Sanosuke yelled at the police officer. "Didn't you come here for something?" He glared at the wolf like man with as much force as he could muster. Saito only smirked at the fighter.

"I came to ask the girl some questions," Saito answered, "You moron. I'm a police officer, and she is still a witness to this investigation, if not a suspect. If she is ill, however, then I will not bother her until she is stronger. Fox woman, if you will send for me, when she is strong enough."

Megumi glared at the man, but she nodded her consent. When the girl moaned in pain, she returned her attention to the patient.

"How are you going to even talk to her?" Sanosuke growled through gritted teeth. His fists were curled and he looked ready to pounce on Saito.

"Feh," Saito replied tossing away his cigarette butt, "I don't have to answer to an idiot like you." He turned around and left the dojo, leaving Sanosuke steaming and the others with a sour mood.

"Damn wolf thinks he's better than us," Sanosuke muttered under his breath.

"Well, there is nothing we can do about it, that we can't," Kenshin replied with a smile. The sun was beginning to set. "Miss Megumi, I leave our guest to your tender care," he said with a smile. "I will prepare a bath for Miss Kaoru and you that I will."

Megumi nodded her thanks, and so did Kaoru. She turned to look back at the girl. Her eyes softened at the sight, and she hoped that she would be all right. But Kenshin believed in her, so she would believe in herself.

That night after everyone had gone to bed, the girl woke up coughing. When her coughing had settled she licked her dry lips. Once, she could make sense of things she realized her predicament. She stood up quickly, but had to bend over and cradle her leg when pain raced through it.

When she felt the pain receding, she began to explore her surroundings. Her injured leg dragged across the ground in her effort to not put any weight or pressure on it, and she soon found herself in the training area of the dojo. The door was open and she could take a peak in.

She said something in her language with a determined voice and slipped inside the room. She grabbed a bokken and went back outside. She held onto a wooden pillar to catch her breath, but stepped off the porch.

"You should be in bed, that you should," Kenshin said to the girl. He knew that she wouldn't be able to understand him, but it would alert the girl to his presence. He had awoken when he heard a dragging sound outside his door. He knew everyone's footsteps and so he knew that this dragging would have to be the foreigner attempting to not put weight on her foot.

The girl said something in her language and she tried to look fierce, but her hands were shaking. She was holding the bokken correctly, but he noticed something else. She was holding it, as if she were left-handed. Saito was left-handed, and so he knew how they gripped the sword. It was also obvious that though she knew how to hold the sword, she had never fought someone. Her stance was also close, but not correct.

Kenshin put on a smile and walked towards the shaking girl. With the smile on his face, he said, "I won't hurt you that I won't. But you need to rest that you do." The girl obviously didn't understand him, and with a cry she attempted to bring the wooden sword down on him.

She had hesitated at the beginning and the last minute. This gave Kenshin the ability to easily dodge the blow and come behind her. He hit her hand and caused her to drop the sword, as she stumbled by. He caught her form before she fell and hurt herself. "Please stop fighting. You're in no condition to be moving about that you aren't," Kenshin said smiling worriedly at the girl, who began to hack and cough in his arms.

She struggled as hard as she could but Kenshin pulled her into a hug. He had thought that this would show that he meant no harm, but the foreigner was having none of it and kicked him in the groin with her good leg. A shattering of bells is what it felt like to Kenshin as he keeled over in pain. Fortunately she couldn't aim very well because of her injured leg, and though it hurt, that's all it did.

"Ororororo," Kenshin muttered in pain.

The commotion in the yard had inevitably woken the other occupants of the dojo, and the girl hissed in her language. Kenshin couldn't tell if she was cursing in her language or hissing in pain. Her wound had reopened and she was leaving blood on the ground.

The girls were the first to arrive at the scene. They saw Kenshin on the ground holding his groin and seemed to be in pain. When Sanosuke and Yahiko arrived at the scene the former could only laugh and point at Kenshin. Yahiko got angry and began to yell at the girl.

The foreigner shrank back but made a dash for the porch. Sanosuke got into her path. He held out his arm and caught her. She struggled in his grip and managed to bite his hand.

"Yeow!" He screamed in pain. "Dammit! That hurts!" He began to shake his arm to get her to let go, but she refused to release. She just bit down harder on his hand as the shaking got more erotic.

"Sanosuke!" Megumi yelled. "Don't shake her so much!" She attempted to calm down the fighter so that she could pry the girl off his hand. Yahiko watched the scene unfold as Kaoru ran over to Kenshin.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Are you all right?" She put a hand on his shoulder, and the former manslayer looked up at her.

"I will be that I will," Kenshin replied painfully. "I misjudged her that I did. I was hoping that a hug would make her see that I meant no harm. It left me open that it did." He turned back to nursing the source of his new found pain.

"What the hell is she? A snapping turtle?" Sanosuke cursed. The girl couldn't hold on much longer and she had released her grip. She had left the imprint of a beautiful bite mark on her victim, and she was currently scrambling to get under the porch in all the confusion.

"She didn't break the skin, so you'll be all right," Megumi replied tapping his hand hard to induce some pain. "Speaking of the girl where is she?" The group looked around for the girl. Even Kenshin who had managed to over come his current pain, began to search.

"Hey where's the brat?" Sanosuke asked. Yahiko had disappeared, but a quick look around showed that he was currently going underneath the porch.

"Guys! I found her! She's under the dojo!" He exclaimed. The girl was lying on her side and breathing heavily. Her eyes were lidded, and Yahiko knew that she wouldn't be able to resist for much longer. "Geez, you stupid girl. Why can't you understand that we don't mean to hurt you. Even kicking Kenshin in the groin. I should make you pay."

The girl looked at him and attempted to get into a more favorable position, but her body's fatigue was catching up. Yahiko was now close enough to clearly see the girl in front of him. She was so pale and sweaty.

"Megumi! She isn't looking to good," he yelled back. The girl managed to sit up and before Yahiko could react, she threw some of the sand into his eyes. "Gah! Dammit! He began to rub his eyes furiously.

"What's wrong, Yahiko?" Kaoru asked worriedly. She tried to see into the darkness of the porch, but it was inevitable. She could only see the black of the lightless abyss.

"She threw sand into my eyes!" Yahiko replied, "She's heading out though. I can hear her!"

The girl was currently scrambling to get out from underneath the porch, but the fighter and swordsman were too fast. The moment she had gotten free, they had grabbed her and tied her up, so she couldn't hurt anyone or herself.

"Please forgive us," Kenshin said smiling to the glaring girl. They had also lightly gagged her to keep her from biting anyone else. They didn't tie up her legs, as Megumi needed to fix it again.

"Honestly," Megumi sighed, "Sir Ken. Hold her shoulders down. Sanosuke, hold her good leg down. Kaoru, I need you to hold her injured leg, while I work at it." When her orders were fulfilled, and even though the girl struggled, she couldn't move.

The girl grunted and squirmed, but the men were much stronger than she was, and she was soon lying with her head in Kenshin's lap panting. Kaoru was not as strong so she focused her energy on getting her legs free.

Yahiko was currently trying to get the sand out of his eyes, using the water from the well. "Dammit, I must have hurt my eyes by rubbing them," he cursed under his breath. Why couldn't the girl understand that they just wanted to help her?

"Hold that leg down Kaoru!" Megumi snapped. The girl attempting to free her legs, kept the doctor from being able to treat it. Finally, Kaoru was able to get into a position to keep her wounded leg down.

The girl grunted in pain and desperation clouded her eyes. Megumi had laid out her tools and was currently dampening a cloth in some kind of liquid. "What is that?" Kaoru asked.

When Megumi was finished saturating the cloth, she answered, "Rubbing alcohol. It will cleanse the wound, but it will sting a lot. All of you will have to hold her down especially hard when I apply this." The others nodded in confirmation, and the girl grew even more uneasy when Megumi directed the cloth to her leg. Her cries were muffled by the gag, though they wouldn't have understood her anyway.

Megumi began to lightly pat the cloth along the wound cleaning it out. The foreigner had managed to get a lot of sand into her wound. It didn't help that her bandage had come off in the earlier scuffle. The girl screamed into the gag. Her legs and body began to convulse violently at the pain.

In her attempt to escape Megumi she began to head butt into Kenshin's leg, but she couldn't get much leverage and was already weak from earlier, so it felt to Kenshin, as if he was being hit lightly by a pillow. Kaoru was straining to keep her leg steady.

"There all done," Megumi said, wiping her forehead. The doctor looked at her patient to see her glaring, but she had tears in her eyes. "The worse is yet to come. With the reopening of the wound she has made it worse. I need to stitch it up this time."

"Why didn't you do that last time?" Sanosuke grunted. It seemed as if the foreigner had found her second wind and was struggling even harder now.

"She didn't need it last time," Megumi retorted, "Now hold her down. I have to stitch her up." The others returned their attentions to their task. Yahiko was done washing his eyes and was watching the operation.

Megumi pulled out a needle and thread. She dipped the needle into the rubbing alcohol and applied the thread. She gave the foreigner a reassuring smile. The girl in turn cowered and buried her face into Kenshin's leg.

"It seems she knows what is going to happen," Megumi said tiredly. The girl had stopped struggling, but was shivering with fear. Megumi took in a deep breath and began to stitch up the wound. The girl let out a cry, but it was barely heard through the gag and Kenshin's pants.

Kenshin could feel the tears staining his pant leg, and hesitantly he rubbed the girl's back. She tensed up, but she forced herself to relax. Megumi worked quickly and in no time the wound had been stitched up. The girl was releasing shaky breaths but she did not look up.

"She passed out," Sanosuke pointed out. Kenshin just smiled, while Megumi put a new bandage on the wound.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Yahiko grunted, his eyes were still teary. He tried to not rub them in fear of making the scratches on his eyes worse.

"Wash your eyes out as often as you can," Megumi instructed looking at the boy, "Sir Ken. Do you still feel any pain? Shall I give you an examination? Ohhohohohoho!"

"That's all right Miss Megumi. The pain is gone now that it is," Kenshin replied holding his hands up.

"That's right! Kenshin is fine. He doesn't need an examination from one such as you!" Kaoru growled. She had grabbed Kenshin's neck defensively.

"Oro?" Kenshin gasped for breath. He was turning purple and it was only when his body went limp that Kaoru released him in a worried panic.

Sanosuke picked up the girl, "Where do you want me to put her." Tear stains were still visible on her cheeks, and one could see the wetness on Kenshin's pants.

"Back on the futon," Megumi answered, "She shouldn't wake up anytime soon though. Her body will want as much rest as possible."

Sanosuke put the girl back on her futon, and Megumi pulled the blanket up to cover her. In her condition a cold would be deadly. "Now we wait," she muttered.

~XXXX~

**A/N: **Hey guys. I meant to put notes on the bottom of the other two chapters, but I never did. A good thing that they weren't that important right? If you noticed I named the other chapter 2 in the story. That was a mistake. It should have been Chapter 1 as the very first thing I posted was the Prologue. That was my mistake.

Now, if you read carefully. I said there was an outbreak of cholera. This is actually true. Tokyo experienced an outbreak of cholera in 1858-60. 200,000 people died from it. If memory serves correctly _Rurouni Kenshin_ takes place in 1878 and up. Our dear foreigner has just missed this.

You see I wanted this to be as close to realistic as possible. We are not used to the pathogens of that time. Most of those have been killed off now. I figured with that outbreak that was so close to this time. The people would still be on edge of the disease. Megumi being a doctor will be the most worried of her patient getting this disease while recovering.

Now Sano's remark on the future of diseases. People think of the future as the time they live in now, with better technology. Sano is showing this. He isn't thinking about the implication of not everyone will know these things. Megumi being a doctor would also have insight on this. That's why I had her ask Sano about medicine.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you continue to enjoy it. ^_^


	4. Chapter 3

**_Rurouni Kenshin_**

**Out of Time**

**Chapter 3**

Kenshin was humming as he hung the laundry out to dry. The excitement from last night had drained all of them. He hadn't woken up till late morning. The others had just barely woken up.

Due to the scratches on Yahiko's eyes, Kaoru let him have a day off. Sanosuke was still nursing his hand. The girl managed to bite him good. As for himself, he occasionally felt pain. It didn't hurt as much as it could have though, and he sighed.

As for the foreigner, she was still sleeping and it was nearing the afternoon. If Kenshin was honest with himself, he wanted her to sleep for at least another week. The lack of communication was big.

Thinking of the girl, made him think of what the future must be like. Perhaps, hugging was sign of aggression in her culture and in the future. Kenshin frowned at the thought. His stomach rumbled and he got up to prepare lunch.

Kenshin finished putting the food on the table. "Lunch time everyone!" he called. Sanosuke and Yahiko were the first to arrive at the table. Kaoru slowly followed them. Kenshin felt a strange sense of déjà vu, but that changed when Megumi came from the girl's room. It seemed she was done with cleaning and changing the bandages.

Lunch was mostly eaten in silence. It was probably to not disturb the girl resting in the nearby room. They did not want a repeat of what happened last night.

When lunch was finished, everyone drank their tea calmly. "I kinda want to see how the girl is doing," Sanosuke admitted. He got up and checked up on her. His friends followed him. "Well, lady doctor?"

"She'll be fine. She is tougher than she looks. The infection has been done away with, now all she needs to do is get used to Japan. That'll take a few days, but the worst of it has past," Megumi explained, "However, I want her to stay off that leg for a while."

The group chuckled for a while, before they went back to what they were doing. Megumi decided to help Kenshin with some of the chores. She felt that she shouldn't leave the girl's side yet.

Later that afternoon the girl woke up to a hungry stomach. She mumbled something in her language before looking around. She had been untied, and she was anxious for some food. She limped off of the porch and attempted to sneak out of the dojo.

Kenshin cleared his throat. She hadn't seen him behind the pile of clothes. The girl put her hands in the air and walked back to her room. It seemed that she understood that she wasn't going anywhere. Her stomach growled again and she held it tightly.

"I'll be right back that I will," Kenshin said, smiling at the girl. She looked up at the sound of his voice but didn't say anything. Kenshin returned later from what was left of their lunch. "Here you are." He set the food down on the porch and he backed off a bit.

The others came over to where they heard Kenshin talking and saw the girl. She was staring at the food.

"Why doesn't she just eat it?" Yahiko asked. He couldn't understand why she would hesitate.

"Give her time Yahiko," Kaoru scolded, "She probably has never seen Japanese food before." The rest of the group looked on anxiously.

Finally, she slowly scooted over to the food. She tried to hold the chopsticks, but she held them awkwardly. She couldn't pick up the rice, so she settled with picking up the bowl, and used the utensils to shovel the grain into her mouth instead.

"She's left-handed?" Kaoru asked stunned, when she noticed the hand the girl was using.

"Yes, I noticed it last night, when she aimed the bokken at me. She had a pretty good grip, but her stance was a bit off that it was," Kenshin explained. The girl occasionally looked at the group while she was eating her food, before going back to it. It looked like she was at least acknowledging that they weren't going to hurt her.

"Well, enough staring," Kaoru said clapping her hands together. This caught the girl's attention as she looked up to stare at them. It looked like she was done with her food. "Come on Yahiko! Time for more training!"

"What?" Yahiko exclaimed in disdain. "But we just finished! Do I have to?" he complained loudly. The girl was confused by what was going on, and she jumped when Kaoru hit Yahiko over the head.

"Of course you have to! Don't you want to get stronger?" Kaoru asked irritably. Yahiko gave a sigh of resignation and followed Kaoru into the training room. Kaoru bowed when she passed by the foreigner. She didn't bow back, but looked dumbfounded.

"Well, back to doing the chores!" Kenshin said. He began to continue doing the laundry. "The laundry won't clean itself that it won't." He hummed while doing his work, and the girl just stared at him.

Sanosuke yawned and said his farewells, and with a request to send for him if anything went wrong.

Megumi walked to the girl who had her knees to her chest and was watching Kenshin with interest. It seemed she had no desire to move from her spot. "Hello there," Megumi said to the girl, "May I see your leg?"

"Good afternoon," the girl said in an accent. Kenshin and Megumi looked up in surprise. "W-what?" she said in confusion. She was stumbling on her words. "N-no? W-why?" She was getting confused with her words now.

"What, yes," Megumi replied to the girl. She slightly smiled at getting the word right. The doctor pointed to her leg again, "May I see it?" The girl was confused and held her leg tighter and looked at the doctor with suspicion in her eyes.

Megumi lightly grabbed the girl's leg and pointed again, "May I see your leg. She pointed to herself and said doctor.

The girl repeated the word and seemed confused. She pointed to herself and repeated the word. Megumi shook her head. "No. I am doctor," she repeated. She was being really patient with the girl.

The girl seemed to get frustrated and pointed to herself again and said the same word. Kenshin was trying hard to not laugh out loud. At this time, Megumi was starting to get frustrated. She was positive this girl was not a doctor like herself. Perhaps the girl thought that the word meant me or something of equal value.

Megumi continued to try and work with the girl. Saito decided to show up. He had a smile on his face, as he walked to the girl. Sanosuke was behind him, looking irritated. "What brings you back Sano? Hello Saito," Kenshin greeted, standing up.

"I saw this wolf guy walking down the street. He asked me how the girl was doing. I told him that she had woken up and was eating. He decided to see for himself," Sanosuke replied, glaring at the police officer.

"She seems to be strong enough," Saito said. Kenshin looked at the officer.

"Barely, don't ask too many question that you shouldn't," Kenshin whispered.

"I am a doctor," Megumi said again much slower this time. The girl repeated what Megumi said pointing to herself. "No," the doctor replied shaking her head and pointing to herself, "I am the doctor." The girl was getting frustrated.

"Hello Doctor," Saito said bowing to Megumi. His voice was warm and welcoming and he smiled at the foreigner. He said something in her language and the girl smiled happily and replied.

"What? He knows her language!" Sanosuke yelled holding his head. "That bastard! He knew her language this entire time, and he couldn't be the one to find her! All this trouble could have been avoided!"

Saito smirked and said something to the girl. She laughed and said something in reply. The officer finally got a little more serious and began to ask the girl questions. She answered heartily, but Saito must have asked her a weird question, because she gave a bewildered look but answered it in confusion. Saito said something else and the girl gave a look of surprise and stuttered a reply.

"What did you say to her?" Megumi demanded. She stood up and glared at Saito. "If you upset her to much, her body may not be able to handle it."

"I just asked if she new what time she was in," Saito replied, looking at the doctor out of the corner of his eye. He said something in her language before returning his attention back to the group. "I've gotten substantial information from her for now. I'll continue to keep her in your care." He was about to leave when Megumi approached him again.

"Can you tell her I'm a doctor, and that I want to take a look at her leg. She kept pointing to herself and repeating the word. I think she misunderstands on its meaning. I'm pretty sure she is not a doctor."

Saito sighed but turned to the girl and supposedly kept to Megumi's request. When the girl replied with confusion and a bit of embarrassment, Saito laughed. He turned back to Megumi, "She is sorry. She was under the impression that the word you used for doctor meant teacher. Back in her time, she was studying to be one." Saito bowed to the foreigner before putting his hat back on and leaving.

Sanosuke busted out laughing! "What did I miss?" he asked excitedly. Even Kenshin was trying hard not to laugh to loud.

"Well, it seems that she did know what you were saying that she did," Kenshin snickered quietly. Megumi sighed but turned to the girl once more and pointed to her leg.

The girl seemed to get the gesture this time, since it was explained that Megumi was a doctor, and she let her see it. Megumi carefully unwrapped the bandage. "The wound seems to be healing nicely," she said to the girl. Megumi smiled at her and gave a nod. The girl seemed to get the message. "I don't want you on your leg though." She pointed to the leg and shook her head. Megumi then rewrapped it. This seemed to confuse the girl.

She attempted to stand up, but Megumi pulled her down and shook her head. "No walking," she said sternly.

"No walking?" The girl repeated. "No…," she seemed to stumble over the word for walking. Megumi smiled but sighed. She decided to introduce herself. She grabbed the girl's attention again.

Pointing to herself she said her name, "Takani Megumi." The girl didn't seem to get it. Kenshin and Sanosuke got what the doctor was trying to do.

Kenshin cleared his throat so the girl looked at the both of them. He pointed to himself, "Himura Kenshin."

Sanosuke also pointed to himself, "Sagara Sanosuke."

The girl seemed to finally get what was happening. She pointed to herself as well, "Bridget Spencer."

Kenshin nodded, "It is nice to meet you Miss Spencer." The girl smiled. She attempted to at least say hello.

"Good afternoon Mr. Sagara, Miss. Takani, and Mr. Kenshin. I Bridget Spencer," she greeted waving her right hand in the air happily. The last sentence was choppy, but the three people understood it well enough.

"Hey Kenshin!" Yahiko yelled running up to the group of four. "When will dinner be ready?" Kaoru had followed close behind her apprentice. "I'm starving!"

"Oro?" Kenshin said. "I seemed to forget about that. I'll get right to work on preparing dinner." Kenshin then dusted himself off and went to prepare the food.

"What?" the girl said. Yahiko and Kaoru looked at her. She attempted to introduce herself to these people. "I Bridget Spencer. Name?"

"Wow. What sucky Japanese," Yahiko commented. "Ow!" he yelped after Kaoru whacked him over the head. "What did you do that for ugly?"

"Don't be rude," Kaoru hissed at her student. She looked at the foreigner, "Hello Miss. Spencer. My name is Kamiya Kaoru." She pointed to herself.

Yahiko cleaned out his ears before answering, "Myoujin Yahiko."

The girl clapped, "Good afternoon Yahiko, Miss Kamiya." Kaoru giggled.

"You don't have to be so formal," she replied. Yahiko rolled his eyes.

"She was formal with you guys. She wasn't with me!" he complained. "Honestly, why don't I ever get the respect I deserve?" he angrily stomped away. Bridget was left confused on what she did wrong.

"Dinner!" Kenshin called. With the help of Megumi, Bridget was able to get to the dining table with the others. "We are honored to have you at our table Miss Spencer that we are."

"Let's eat!" everyone shouted before breaking their chopsticks and digging into the meal. Bridget stared in confusion. She had muttered the words 'let's eat' but was reluctant to begin eating. She watched how everyone else ate.

She noticed that none of them used their left-hand. She gulped but put the chopsticks into her right hand. Her hand shakily attempted to take some rice, but it was too unstable to hold and the rice fell back into the bowl.

Kenshin shook his head, "You don't have to change your hand that you don't." He grabbed both her hands and switched them. The girl lightly smiled but still did not attempt to eat anymore.

"Looks like we just made it in time!" an elderly man said. The two little girls at his side cheered and sat next to Kenshin.

"Who is that?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah. Who that?" her sister echoed.

"A foreign guest," Kenshin replied smiling.

"Welcome Dr. Gensai," Kaoru said happily, "please join us. There's plenty to go around."

"Don't mind if I do," he replied happily and sat down next to Megumi. Bridget was still fiddling with the chopsticks.

"I help!" Ayame exclaimed running up to the foreigner.

"Me too!" Suzume said following her sister. The two girls attempted to show Bridget how to hold the chopsticks. She tried her hardest to imitate the girls. Eventually under their guidance, she held the chopsticks correctly and slowly began to eat.

"Yay! You got it!"

"Yeah you got it!"

Bridget smiled though she had no idea what the little girls were saying. Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Kaoru began to laugh at the lack of communication that had happened earlier between the foreigner and Megumi.

Bridget laughed with them though she didn't know what was so funny.

~XXXX~

**A/N: **Hello once again! Just your friendly author doing some explaining and cultural references as usual!

Earlier in the chapter when Megumi was trying to tell Miss Bridget that she was a doctor and pointing to herself with Bridget copying and repeating the word. For those that don't know. Sensei is the word used for teacher/doctor/instructor. Bridget is not aware that sensei can mean doctor. She is only aware of the single meaning of teacher. This is why she is confused when Megumi wants to look at her leg but is saying "Sensei". Bridget is literally thinking of the word teacher. After all it would be confusing if a teacher wanted to look at your wounded leg.

When Bridget was introducing herself after the others did, she shows that she knows that the Japanese introduce last names first. She however does not do this when introducing herself, as is western culture. That is why the others refer to her as Miss Spencer instead of Miss Bridget.

When Yahiko refers to him not being respected, it is because Bridget addresses him with the suffix -Kun. Instead of with the -Dono that she did with the others. -Dono is used for royalty. Obviously, Bridget is not aware of this. It is probably because she has heard Kenshin call others with -Dono that she feels she must use the suffix.

Later in the chapter, while the group was eating, Bridget who is left-handed switched hands. She is aware that not all cultures appreciate those who are left-handed. Also being aware that she is no longer in her time, where being left-handed is acceptable. Around this time and earlier times, she knows that western cultures frown at being left-handed. It was thought to mean that the family was cursed or that the couple had intercourse on Sunday. Bridget shows that she knows this when she switches hands. Kenshin aware that her time period is different and most likely knows that being left-handed has nothing to do with demons, switches her hands back to the way they were. This shows Bridget that they will not judge her for being left-handed and accept it.


End file.
